KRAFTWERK

I never thought Kraftwerk were krautrock in their beginning! The best warning I can give you is that, if you don't like the krautrock band Can, then you probably won't like this record either! The music here has almost no melody, and the emotions possibly brought are only found in the mellow part of "MegaHertz"!

"Ruckzuk" starts pretty well with flutes a la Jethro Tull, curiously reminding a bit the Under Wraps album. Unfortunately, it is too experimental, hypnotic and repetitive. The second part is VERY krautrock influenced, as reveals the psychedelic echoed drums & percussions- oriented music. The "Stratovarius" intro is one of the worst prog moment ever recorded: a series of insipid, insane & irritating keyboards laments; the rhythmic part is reminiscent of the band Neu! The couples of passages where rhythmic acceleration occurs are interesting. The best parts of this album are the gently floating organ & peaceful flutes/woodwind instrument bits on "MegaHertz": it reminds me a bit Jade Warrior and Jethro Tull; it is however partly destroyed by the bizarre frying noise. The artificial war planes & bombing emulations on "Von Himmel Hoch" are borderline childish and silly. The loaded passage on "Von Himmel Hoch" between 8:00 and 9:30 is another strong point of this record. The keyboards conversation is funny but Tomita can do it so much better!

I must admit the guys are structured and disciplined. For 1970, this was very original. Globally, I slightly prefer it to the Can's Tago Mago album, because it is better structured and there are more memorable passages: that's why I can add half of a star to the rating.

Rating: 2.5 stars